As we noted here earlier this year, a multibillion-dollar state mandate to cut energy use at thousands of Colorado buildings, including many offices and apartments, has drawn an outcry from affected property owners. Among their concerns was the unprecedented speed with which the state government was rushing toward implementation. That was making it nearly impossible for the owners to have input in the process.

On Friday, The Gazette reported that the property owners have filed suit. It was only a matter of time; their decision to resort to legal action is understandable, to say the least. The costs imposed by the new regulations stand to drive up rent for tenants statewide and promises a ripple effect throughout Colorado’s economy.

As noted in The Gazette’s report, the plaintiffs – the Colorado Apartment Association and the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, which represent thousands of building owners – assert in their filing in Denver District Court that the state illegally shortened the public review period for taking feedback on the regs. The lawsuit also contends the state repeatedly revised the rule without adequate notice to affected building owners.

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The plaintiffs charge the bureaucracy pushing the agenda, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, had delayed release of the “Building Benchmarking and Performance Standards” rule by two years – and then suddenly, last February, launched a full-court press to enact the regulation. That denied the public and building owners a meaningful opportunity to weigh in.

The regulation requires owners of all buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to make changes or improvements to those buildings to achieve a 7% reduction in energy use by 2026 and a 20% reduction by 2030. The regulation doesn’t specify how building owners must achieve those goals.

A spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis – the ultimate boss of the Air Pollution Control Division – insisted last week, as the state as all along, that the new rules allow building owners flexibility in choosing energy sources and heating and cooling systems in meeting the standard.

But building owners say that claim is eyewash. They argue the rule amounts to mandatory electrification – the touchstone of the extreme-green agenda – requiring the sweeping and costly reconfiguration of buildings and elimination of natural gas. Alternatives to electrification – like fortifying gas-heated buildings with upgraded insulation or high-performance windows – are prohibitive and may not even be possible. Older buildings, for example, face problems like asbestos removal that would require tenants to move out during renovations.

The owners also said renovations that meet the initial 7% reduction by 2026 may be impossible due to planning, permitting, and supply-chain issues.

As we also have pointed out here before, total electrification itself could turn out to be an all-time boondoggle. A central feature of electrification is to replace effective and efficient gas-fired forced-air furnaces or radiant heaters with heat pumps. A mode of heating designed for warmer climes, the heat pump has yet to prove itself in Colorado’s winters.

All of which should have been vetted and thought through more thoroughly. And it could have been – if the state government hadn’t fast-tracked it, ignoring the input of those who will be most affected.

The proposed rule was the result of legislation signed into law in 2021 by the governor as part of his Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap. Building owners fear it is a roadmap to nowhere – likely to leave them and much of the rest of Colorado’s economy stranded in the wilderness.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board